Every Question
Rec Room #15 – Things we’re enjoying this week
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
There’s a month to go until Christmas. That might sound like bad or scary news but it’s actually good – it means we can definitely start watching holiday movies now and no one can do a thing to stop us, because “it is the season”.
Before you go off on a scrolling frenzy to try and decide what to watch first, let me recommend the Netflix series Dash & Lily. You might have seen it on the menu already and thought “that looks bad”. But if you’re at all inclined toward sweet Christmas and / or teen romcoms… trust me, it’s good.
For added enjoyment I especially recommend keeping a tab of this Vulture article ‘Every Question I Had While Watching Dash & Lily’ open while you watch. Just don’t read too far ahead or, you know... spoilers.
–Cal
Sam recommends the game Chameleon. “It’s a game where everyone knows what the goal word is except one person (the chameleon), who has to pretend they know it. Like the best board games, it stirs up deep distrust among friends, and is revealing about what people do and don’t know in their day-to-day lives. It’s also essentially gamifying awkward social interaction, so it’s great practice for that!”
This week’s short documentary from the Frame series is a beautiful portrait of a special woman – Whaea Michelle, a family liaison at Auckland’s family violence court. For many of the people who end up there it represents a low point in their life, and Michelle’s is often the only friendly face they’ll see there. But her unending kindness and support allows them to take the first steps toward rehabilitation, and she’s helped hundreds, probably thousands of people turn their lives around now.
Leonie recommends Sohla El-Waylly’s paprika chicken and rice. “And basically all of her delightful YouTube videos. She was one of the under appreciated (and underpaid) stars of Bon Appétit who is now blessing my YT recs on three different channels. Her chicken and rice method is genius, you can just change up the sauce ingredients and make heaps of yum variations.”
Food podcast Dietary Requirements is doubling the amount of food chat in your feed by going fortnightly, starting with last week’s episode with office cooking whizzes Lucy and Matt. They joined Alice and Simon to discuss some of the big food topics in the office, like what’s the deal with seltzers and is the new Whittaker’s good or bad. There’s a hugely divisive peanut butter question in there too.
Stewart recommends another food podcast, Off Menu. “UK comedians James Acaster and Ed Gamble speak to celebrities – usually fellow comedians – about their “dream” food items, ranging from a starter through to dessert. It very quickly devolves into stupid food-based anecdotes and banter and is almost always hilarious. Quality definitely varies based on the guest, but it’s the perfect podcast for background noise while cooking or driving to work, although I’m not sure they’d want it described as such.”
In episode two of Coming Home (which topped the NZ Apple Podcasts charts for a while there last week – thanks everybody who subscribed!) Duncan and Jane dig some more into who all these returning New Zealanders are and what factors drew them abroad. While their individual experiences all vary, there are a few things they now have in common from their time working internationally.
José recommends She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix. “It's a reboot of the original 1980s He-Man spinoff. It's maybe the best written kids cartoon out there and is breathtaking in the way it treats LGBT relationships as matter of fact. The central relationship around which most of the series is plotted is maybe one the most engaging and well written relationships currently on our screens, queer or otherwise. It's also committed to body positivity and depicting many different types of bodies and gender identities which is a remarkable feat in a medium in which production workflow demands standardisation. Plus it's funny and exciting and it gets you in the raw feels the way something like Steven Universe doesn't. I love it.”
On The Fold last week Duncan had a chat with Mark Robinson, the CEO of NZ Rugby, who’s had quite a big year. In fact, he’s part of an exclusive club (not an actual club but it should be) of CEOs who started new jobs mere weeks before Covid-19 turned the world – and their industries – upside down. They talk about his outlook for the future of rugby in New Zealand, and some of the decisions about the direction the game is taking that have been fast-tracked as a result of the pandemic.
Eli recommends pablo.rochat on Instagram. “He's a creative director that uses Instagram features and classic rip sheets in super creative, and sometimes hilarious, ways. So much to scroll. This recent post is a goodie, and I do love the classic pranking of San Franciscans.
Good news for politics nerds – parliament is back this week and so too is Gone By Lunchtime. Join Toby, Annabelle and Ben as they chat about the state of the National Party post-AGM, probe the weaknesses in the new Labour government’s political armour, pontificate on all the politics to come and more.
That’s all for this week! If you’ve got a rec to share or any other business to discuss please get in touch. See you next Wednesday 👋
